


;a game of cat and mouse

by bloodynargles



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 5.3 spoilers, Au Ra Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Spoilers, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, POV Alternating, Patch 5.0: Shadowbringers Spoilers, aaall the spoiler tags, by the fact that it exists, idk if its canon dont look @ me, not that it has huge spoilers but it does, once. half way through. its ok, post 5.3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 10:06:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25847782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodynargles/pseuds/bloodynargles
Summary: Before his slumber had taken him, his mind did play a cat and mouse game with his heart, though it did never give up its secrets once he had caught it many years later.
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	;a game of cat and mouse

**Author's Note:**

> i was just hugging him in gpose i have written in MONTHS
> 
> im so happy :'3c

A hand reaches toward her face, as if to cup her cheek, but instead she feels the weight of an earring being tapped gently. “You never did tell me what these meant..” They bore the crest of a high house of Ishgard, she had told him when he had asked not long after the lightwardens were vanquished. Of course he was well into his catnap by the time she made it to Ishgard, and while he knew that she was bound to house Fortemps from the history books he had read before he traveled to the first, he did not know the _context_. He didn’t know about the last man who gave his life for her. To protect.

Pink orbs flicker to his face, examining his curious eyes as he fiddles gently with the jewelry, twisting it to and fro between his finger and thumb. A breath is sucked in through her nose and it seems rather more dramatic than she wishes to make it, his own eyes looking over to her as if he had done something wrong. “Forgive me if I… Brought back something you do not wish to-” His voice sounds far as he pulls away, hand slipping from her horn, the earring rocking from the speed in which he pulled away.

“No!” Arcadia quietly curses the harsh way her words came out, reaching out a hand to stop him from retreating inside himself. “No, no, I.. _We_ should speak about the dead, that is how we keep them alive.” Her own fingers play with the earring now, tracing the outside shape and pressing gently on the carved surface where the crest itself was. She glances to the ground, almost planning her words, in a way not wanting to do his memory any less justice than it deserves. When her gaze returns, his red eyes are so very full of emotion, but they hold an understanding, one she knows he feels greatly. “They are a.. symbol, I suppose you could say. Of my devotion. Of my.. love.” Her voice dips low as it trails off into a whisper, and his eyes widen in almost surprise, that word was not something she threw around often. “Oh! I was not aware.” He’s playing with his hands, she can tell without looking. Something about his almost sheepish look makes him look like a boy who has never fallen before, who has yet to know his first love. It makes her laugh, a hand coming to her lips in an attempt to suppress her giggles.

G’raha steps back with one foot in half feigned shock, while not expecting her laughter in such a tender moment, it was a welcome sight nonetheless. “And what _ever_ did I do to deserve this, my Warrior of Darkness?!” Her eyes watch him, gleaming at the sight of his theatrics, a warmth spreading within his chest at the sight. Ah, the familiar feeling he used to miss so much. “O _h._ ” She gets out in breaths between her laughter, “Oh do forgive me, G’raha. Twas- Twas not my intention to upset you so!” A smile stretches across his face, it brought him great joy to jest with his friend like this, even if the subject had started somewhat somber.

“Tis such a change, is all. No greys,” She reaches out with her left hand, softly brushing his hair away from his face with her fingertips. The heat that was in his chest rushes to his cheeks in, what he is sure is, an explosion of colour. The warrior’s smile broadens, “You look like I remember you, from all those years ago. Except..” Her face softens. “Except _wiser_ , though if I may say, you did never quite lose your boyish charm.” A fingertip runs down his nose almost absently, coming to rest under his chin as her hand cups his jaw tenderly.

He had often wondered where, exactly, his feelings for this Warrior of Light lay. Before his slumber had taken him, his mind did play a cat and mouse game with his heart, though it did never give up its secrets once he had caught it many years later. Raha supposed that perhaps _those_ kinds of feelings never did have chance to grow, after all back then he saw her as an aspiration. Not so much an equal, more a hero he wished to stand beside. But through their recent adventures together he _had_ seen a different side to her. Beneath the stoic, determined and ever strong mask she wore, there was a soft woman. A cautious but kind, and soft soul. Perhaps..

Her face _is_ undeniably close..

“Oh, _no_. _Friends_ do _not_ try to kiss each other!” Alisaie’s voice rings out like a shrill cry in his ears from the table not so far from where they were, and Arcadia’s soft but calloused hand drops from his face at the sound. The Warrior’s head is turned and her eyes wide, mouth opening and closing without so much as a word coming from her lips to contest the elezen’s claim. “Espe _cially_ not in front of me!” The young mage’s hands are firmly planted on the table in front of her, face hard set as her eyes burn holes into him, the sound of her brother’s soft snickers do nothing to resolve her mood, her fleeting glance of fire soon putting an end to his amusement.

After moments of silence and burning gazes, Arcadia turns her attention back to him, eyes almost pleading forgiveness. She was a quiet person, and he had come to learn so much as to _why_ as of late.

A breathy laugh leaves his lips as he dips his head, wholly unexpecting the light press of a kiss to his cheek. The harsh noise of the young elezen slamming her palms against the table can be heard to his right, though his friend seems unfazed by this, pushing herself up onto her toes to whisper to him. Her breath tickles his ear, and they twitch slightly at the feeling. He was not used to having her so.. close, the urge to wrap an arm around her waist is quashed by the sound of stomping footsteps coming towards them. “It is quite.. _endearing_ , Raha.”

“Right!” His arm is tugged sharply, barely giving him time to process what was said before they were rudely interrupted. “Time for some _training_ , I think!” Alisaie’s tone is pointed, and G’raha doesn’t do much to pull away as he’s dragged away from the Warrior of Light, and he has no doubt that the elezen will keep him from her side as long as she can.

Perhaps it will give him time to ponder, now that he has caught his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> alisaie is my platonic soulmate the end
> 
> no but ill attempt to post the fancy screenshot breaks they do on the site in the tumblr post but if you see the screenies in a second post you know it went not good.
> 
> .-.


End file.
